Tuesday, May 31, 2016
Wednesdays were hot dog day. I know this because my mother made the same thing for supper each night of the week and we learned my grandpa F. died (19 April 1972) while I was eating a hot dog. I remember I didn't want to finish it and my sister Susan telling me I should. Other nights my mother made hamburgers, hot dogs, spaghetti (one box each of Kraft American and Italian), macaroni and cheese, Spanish rice, sometimes those hard shell tacos with the mix, and once in a while canned chop suey with the little crispy noodles. When my father came home from truck driving she made him bologna sandwiches and the grossest goulash imaginable (macaroni noodles, hamburger meat, and stewed tomatoes. He hated spices so the food had to be bland.
Almost every night dessert was Jello with canned fruit. Often fruit cocktail, but also cherries and peaches. Breakfast was cereal and Tang orange drink. We had nasty dried milk. My mother was trying to make ends meet with five children on a long-haul truck driver's salary. She loved the innovative food industry products that were so popular in the 1960s and 1970s.
The only thing I make that my mother made is Spanish rice. But I had lots of hot sauce to it.
Almost every night dessert was Jello with canned fruit. Often fruit cocktail, but also cherries and peaches. Breakfast was cereal and Tang orange drink. We had nasty dried milk. My mother was trying to make ends meet with five children on a long-haul truck driver's salary. She loved the innovative food industry products that were so popular in the 1960s and 1970s.
The only thing I make that my mother made is Spanish rice. But I had lots of hot sauce to it.
Saturday, May 28, 2016
Lately I just feel haggard. For various reasons I have been so stressed out. Last week I had a melt down and it wasn't pretty. You can only take so much drama and uncertainty before it becomes too much.
I look in the mirror and I see someone so tired. Sometimes I wonder if this is what a mid-life crisis looks and sounds like. But I don't have the cash to buy a new car or a fancy outfit.
One positive thing is that I finally paid off the trusty Ford Focus. Last night I came close to totaling it due to another driving who was probably driving drunk.
I try to stay positive and at moments that works. Tomorrow I am going to bake a cake and go to a party and maybe something will click.
I look in the mirror and I see someone so tired. Sometimes I wonder if this is what a mid-life crisis looks and sounds like. But I don't have the cash to buy a new car or a fancy outfit.
One positive thing is that I finally paid off the trusty Ford Focus. Last night I came close to totaling it due to another driving who was probably driving drunk.
I try to stay positive and at moments that works. Tomorrow I am going to bake a cake and go to a party and maybe something will click.
Saturday, May 21, 2016
Seven days of Jimbo.
Jim arrived Wednesday afternoon while I was out digging. Doug was nice enough to go pick him up. It was four years since he was last here. That night of course we went to Rosa's. Jim enjoyed three enchiladas and two margaritas.
Pre-margarita.
I went to work on Thursday. In the afternoon I took Jim over to the Old Adobe Guesthouse, where he had a very nice room to enjoy, without Puff walking over him in the middle of the night. That evening, we went to the bridge over the Rillito, at Campbell Avenue, to watch the bats fly out at dusk.
We arrived an hour early.
A few minutes before sunset the bats suddenly started flying out from small cracks beneath the bridge. Thousands and thousands of bats. It was very impressive.
Bats.
I had been wanting to see this for a long time, but waited until Jim came to visit.
I had been wanting to see this for a long time, but waited until Jim came to visit.
More bats.
Friday afternoon was Gay Mens Happy Hour, and I rode the streetcar and met up with Ray (Robert was stuck in traffic coming down from Phoenix). Patrick and Mark showed up. We had many fruity drinks and afterward ate at Delectables.
Homer, Ray, and Jim.
I dragged Jim up to the stage and he participated in a hula dancing competition. He lost to a woman who obviously knew what she was doing.
Pre-hula.
Saturday, Jim, Mark, and I went down to Ray and Robert's house to play in the pool. I got a little sunburnt and fell asleep at 8 PM.
Ray, Jordan, Robert, Mark, and Homer.
The next morning we went for a walk and took an embarrassing photograph.
Lolz.
Sunday evening was spent having drinks and chatting with Kamron and Patrick. It was a nice time. The next day I drove Jim up to the top of Mount Lemmon.
Jim looking at scenery.
It was 92 on the valley floor and 62 on top. Jim got to see several new species of birds.
He also got up close to some saguaro blossoms.
Tuesday he borrowed the trusty Ford Focus and drove down to Madera Canyon while I was digging. He got to see the very rare trogon, which was very exciting. That afternoon we stopped at the Presidio Park. The sun was very bright.
Jim posing in the park.
He flew back Wednesday. Doug, who was going to take him to the airport, ended up having appendicitis instead and I spent Thursday at the VA Hospital. Very dramatic.
Monday, May 09, 2016
I purchased this photo from Ebay, taken between 1894 and 1901 in my hometown. I think the guy on the left is very cute.
Craig.
I've been working out on an archaeology dig. Hohokam pit structures and pits, dating from about AD 500 to 700 and from around AD 1150 to 1300.
Whorl.
Also probably dates from around AD 500 to 700.
A little ground squirrel, apparently orphaned, was in the trench next to where I was working, crying out "cheep, cheep." I picked it up and put it back, later I gave it to Katie who is now bottle feeding it. It was very cute.
Old photo.
Couple of weekends ago I went up to Phoenix and had supper with Craig, Jesse, and Mike. At a vegetarian restaurant. My fake Big Mac was tasty and the fries were great. The soy ice cream afterward was awful. Very trendy though.
Then we played board games. In the morning we went to the breakfast place and broke our fast.
Jesse.
I've been working out on an archaeology dig. Hohokam pit structures and pits, dating from about AD 500 to 700 and from around AD 1150 to 1300.
Tanque Verde style pottery, circa AD 1150 to 1300+.
I spent some time digging in soil mining pits, where people dug into the dirt to collect material to make adobe plaster. These pits then were filled with trash, either on purpose or washed in (the area was slightly down slope).
I found a spindle whorl. Originally it would have had a stick through it and it was used to spin cotton or agave fibers into thread.
Other side.
I worked on two pit structures dating to the early occupation of the site. One was difficult to dig because the same spot had been used for two houses. You can see various postholes, pits, and floor grooves in this picture, with the plastered hearth to the left of the meter stick. This is only slightly more than half of the house.
Pit structure.
The other house contained almost rock hard gravelly fill, very difficult to dig. It had a nice plastered floor though, and partially plastered walls. An old phone line ran through it.
A little ground squirrel, apparently orphaned, was in the trench next to where I was working, crying out "cheep, cheep." I picked it up and put it back, later I gave it to Katie who is now bottle feeding it. It was very cute.
Ground squirrel.
Baby.
And in other news, yesterday was Mother's 84th birthday, and also Mother's Day. There is some turmoil going on back in Michigan. Honestly, it is just tiresome.
